Day 7 - 4/10/2017 - 311.8 miles to Vicksburg, MS
Slept in too long. It's been a lot of driving and it caught up to me, as did a martini and a glass of wine in the Courtyard hotel bar in downtown Little Rock. So when I went to bed, I was down for good.
Next morning came way too early, just did not want to get up, but it was time.
We left the hotel and literally drove about a quarter mile down the street to the Clinton Presidential Center.
It's a great looking building. It is on the banks of the Arkansas River in downtown, with a street car that goes right by.
It has full size reproductions of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as it was during his terms of office. There are also stacks and stacks of temperature and humidity glass cases with the documents of his presidency, for scholars to study. I was in the Cabinet Room and Vickie sat down in the Presidents chair. It looked good seeing a woman in that chair. If only things had been different.
Today there was also something else. There was a conference going on on one of the medical programs, Health Matters, sponsored by the Clinton Foundation. And the Big Dog himself, William Jefferson Clinton, was there on the stage with the panel.
We had no idea that this would happen. Vickie scooted around the area where the meeting was being held. She took pictures. I watched the Secret Service detail, who also watched me.
Nope, didn't get to talk to him, but still...
We left Little Rock and headed to Hot Springs National Park so Vickie could take a walk and get stamps from the park. It rained off and on, and Vickie got a little wet on her walk.
One thing we've seen is a lot of road work going on. Especially in Arkansas where road after road was getting major improvements. That certainly means some jobs for a lot of people.
We drove across Arkansas on state and US small roads, again going through small town after small town. Towns generally looked like they were OK, but not bustling. In fact, once again, there was virtually no one on the streets. Cars at businesses and a few folks coming and going.
Vickie mentioned that is was different to see some upscale middle class homes (mostly built of brick) while right next door there were some dilapidated places that had little if any upkeep. She wondered why and I suggested it was because land had been in the same family for a long time. When good times came for a given family they built a new and better house, while their neighbors could not. Vickie also noticed we hadn't seen any black people in these small towns.
That was true. Across Arkansas these small towns seemed mostly white. We saw blacks all over in Little Rock, but not other places. As we neared the Mississippi the road turned south. Then the towns began to change. Increasing numbers of black people and, sorry to say, the towns became less and less prosperous. While the overwhelming number of churches were Southern Baptist, they now carried the title "Missionary: Baptist Church or A.M.E which signified that they were predominantly black churches that arose near the turn of the 20th century where segregation was the law.
We crossed out of Arkansas into the extreme northwest Louisiana and the landscape changed a little. Now there were cypress trees growing in the water and sloughs. Some old plantation type houses, some in good shape others not so much.
In the towns poverty was clearly apparent. Buildings you would never consider had for rent signs. Some homes were were kept up, but clearly needed some major repairs. Others were empty, or maybe marginally used by transients or the desperately poor. Vickie mentioned that it did not look like they put much effort into Code Enforcement. Maybe because there were no codes to enforce, but probably because it had been that way for generations
We made it Vicksburg. Tomorrow, the Vicksburg Battlefield National Military Monument.
Next morning came way too early, just did not want to get up, but it was time.
We left the hotel and literally drove about a quarter mile down the street to the Clinton Presidential Center.
 |
| Clinton Presidential Center |
It has full size reproductions of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as it was during his terms of office. There are also stacks and stacks of temperature and humidity glass cases with the documents of his presidency, for scholars to study. I was in the Cabinet Room and Vickie sat down in the Presidents chair. It looked good seeing a woman in that chair. If only things had been different.
We had no idea that this would happen. Vickie scooted around the area where the meeting was being held. She took pictures. I watched the Secret Service detail, who also watched me.
Nope, didn't get to talk to him, but still...
We left Little Rock and headed to Hot Springs National Park so Vickie could take a walk and get stamps from the park. It rained off and on, and Vickie got a little wet on her walk.
One thing we've seen is a lot of road work going on. Especially in Arkansas where road after road was getting major improvements. That certainly means some jobs for a lot of people.
We drove across Arkansas on state and US small roads, again going through small town after small town. Towns generally looked like they were OK, but not bustling. In fact, once again, there was virtually no one on the streets. Cars at businesses and a few folks coming and going.
Vickie mentioned that is was different to see some upscale middle class homes (mostly built of brick) while right next door there were some dilapidated places that had little if any upkeep. She wondered why and I suggested it was because land had been in the same family for a long time. When good times came for a given family they built a new and better house, while their neighbors could not. Vickie also noticed we hadn't seen any black people in these small towns.
That was true. Across Arkansas these small towns seemed mostly white. We saw blacks all over in Little Rock, but not other places. As we neared the Mississippi the road turned south. Then the towns began to change. Increasing numbers of black people and, sorry to say, the towns became less and less prosperous. While the overwhelming number of churches were Southern Baptist, they now carried the title "Missionary: Baptist Church or A.M.E which signified that they were predominantly black churches that arose near the turn of the 20th century where segregation was the law.
We crossed out of Arkansas into the extreme northwest Louisiana and the landscape changed a little. Now there were cypress trees growing in the water and sloughs. Some old plantation type houses, some in good shape others not so much.In the towns poverty was clearly apparent. Buildings you would never consider had for rent signs. Some homes were were kept up, but clearly needed some major repairs. Others were empty, or maybe marginally used by transients or the desperately poor. Vickie mentioned that it did not look like they put much effort into Code Enforcement. Maybe because there were no codes to enforce, but probably because it had been that way for generations
We made it Vicksburg. Tomorrow, the Vicksburg Battlefield National Military Monument.
I am enjoying both of your blogs very much. I check on you before I read the news! What is it like sleeping in a different place every night, and eating every meal out? Sorry you missed meeting Pres Clinton. That would have been a real coup. Keep up the posts. Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteThe travelling is fine with me. Hotels have been pretty good, and food has ranged from fine to very good. That's not counting the "free" hotel breakfasts which are probably not toxic. Except the one in Enid which was ok, but had great southern biscuits, hot. Yum!
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